1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a saddle riding type vehicle such as a three-wheeled or four-wheeled automotive vehicle having a pair of wheels at least at the front or rear of a vehicle body and being able to make turns by leaning the vehicle body.
2. Description of the Related Art
A saddle riding type vehicle has a pair of wheels located at both sides of the vehicle body at the front and/or rear of the vehicle body, and a support mechanism for supporting at least one pair of wheels to be movable up and down in substantially opposite directions relative to the vehicle body. The saddle riding type vehicle constructed in this way can make turns by leaning the vehicle body, as does a motorcycle (as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-359232, for example).
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-359232 discloses a three-wheeled automotive vehicle having a pair of wheels provided at the front of a vehicle body. A mechanism supporting the pair of wheels at the front is a roll mechanism having a shape of an articulated square, which includes two crossbars arranged vertically and rotatably supported at the forward end of a main frame, a right side tube connected to right ends of both crossbars, and a left side tube connected to left ends of both crossbars. The pair of right and left tubes rotatably support the pair of wheels. The support mechanism constructed in this way supports the pair of wheels to be movable up and down relative to the vehicle body. Thus, the vehicle disclosed in the above patent publication makes turns while leaning the main frame with the pair of wheels contacting the road surface.
The above saddle riding type vehicle further includes a lock mechanism for limiting leaning of the vehicle body, and a switch operable by the rider to operate the lock mechanism. Since the vehicle body will not lean further when the lock mechanism operates, the vehicle body can be maintained in a self-sustainable state resting on the three or four wheels. Therefore, by operating the switch to operate the lock mechanism, the rider need not put his or her feet on the road surface to support the vehicle body at each stop to wait for the traffic light to change, for example. It is also unnecessary to use a stand when parking the vehicle (as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-306363, for example).
However, the conventional vehicle with such a construction has the following drawback.
It is bothersome for the rider to operate the switch manually in order to operate the lock mechanism. It is especially bothersome to operate the lock mechanism when the vehicle runs at low speed before stopping or after starting. There is an inconvenience that the lock mechanism is not easy to use in an actual traveling situation.